Just like we have "North Drift" and "Shanghai Drift", and South Korea also has "Seoul Drift"; big cities have always attracted a large number of young people to pursue their dreams because of the high concentration of resources. Not every young person has the ability to own a house in a big city, so "commuting" has become a daily routine for the drifters. Some may live on the fringes of cities, while others may simply live in small cities around big cities, work in big cities during the day, and then go home across the city after get off work.
As soon as "My Exodus Diary" (also known as "My Emancipation Diary") came out, it showed a completely different character from most Korean dramas-it did not focus on the domineering president of Seoul, but the desolate people floating in Seoul. Youth, long commutes are their daily routine.

"My Exodus Diary" poster

The protagonists are three siblings, the eldest sister Lian Qizhen (played by Li Aier), the second brother Lian Changxi (played by Li Minji), and the younger sister Lian Mizhen (played by Kim Jiwon). They work in Seoul, but live in Gyeonggi-do (the equivalent of In a rural area of a city under the Hebei province next to Beijing, every day you have to take the bus to the subway station, and then take the subway to the company in Seoul. It takes 3 hours to go back and forth.

The eldest sister Lian Qizhen (played by Li Aier)

In the words of the second brother, "Gyeonggi-do is like the egg white, the egg yolk that surrounds Seoul". So why not live in Seoul? because of poverty. South Korea's housing prices are so high that it can compete with Beijing and Shanghai. To make matters worse, house prices in South Korea have soared in the past two years, rising by 50% in two years and more than doubling in five years. Those who have houses are prosperous, and young people from other provinces who do not have houses are getting more and more difficult.

Yeom Chang Suk (Lee Min Ki)

The commute time is very long, and the three brothers and sisters have to rush out to catch the bus every morning. After get off work, in order to catch the last bus, they rarely attend the party of the company colleagues, or they have to leave early to catch the last bus. Sometimes when the last bus is missed, the three siblings will meet to take a taxi home together—the distance is too long, the taxi is too expensive, and the three have to share it equally.
One of the indirect effects of being busy with work and commuting is that they have problems with their love lives. The eldest sister has a bright personality, and hates marriage with all her heart, but she can't get married all the time; the second brother is in love, but he has no money, no house or car, and deep down, he is also very inferior, and the relationship is talked about for a while; the third sister secretly After falling in love for a while, how can I be unkind, cheated by my ex-boyfriend, and have to help him pay the card after breaking up...

Younger sister Yeon Mi-jung (played by Kim Ji-won)

The plot focuses more on the third sister, Lian Meizhen, who is also the character that resonates most with the audience. Different from the "extrovert" of the older brothers and sisters - they are accustomed to express their emotions through verbal complaints, Lian Meizhen is very introverted, which is related to personality, more out of a kind of inner exhaustion - Tired of talking.
Kim Ji-won, who plays Yeom Mi-jung, is a beautiful woman, but her male colleagues in the company commented that Yeom Mi-jung was a boring person. If you haven't watched the drama, you must say that this male colleague is blind, and the big beauty should be very happy in the company. But "My Exodus Diary" makes Yeom Mi-jung's "boring" convincing.
She is conscientious and conscientious in her work, but she is not called outstanding. The repetitive and monotonous work has made her a little bit overwhelmed; she is usually too quiet, and she hardly takes the initiative to talk to others, and she rarely participates in colleagues' gatherings. , others have gradually ignored her; of course, she is not cold, for example, she will show a friendly and sweet smile to her colleagues - but this smile is not from the heart, we can see the whole process of her originally indifferent face squeezed out the smile ...
As if the soul has been drained, this is the inner state of Lian Meizhen, "I seem to spend a long time like this, and finally wither and die."

Yeom Mi-jeong is tired of her current life

Lian Meizhen was first and foremost disappointed with herself. She obviously didn't like this kind of herself: mediocrity, burnout at work, and rudeness to others. Just like Lian Meizhen got 20 points in the test when she was a child, but the paper had to be signed by her parents. She had always been ashamed to show this paper to her parents. When she grew up, she often thought of what this 20-point test paper meant, "I am that 20-point test paper."

Lian Meizhen thinks she is ashamed of showing off a 20-point test paper

Left and right, Lian Meizhen lost her enthusiasm for the world, and she was not interested in everything.
There are moments of Lian Meizhen's inner monologue from time to time in the play. In the streets or subways where people come and go, the light in Lian Meizhen's eyes goes out, her expression is blank, even though she is so beautiful, she is like a gorgeous flower. About to wither, the audience feels the depression and despair in her heart. People who don't know her think she is quiet, showy, and reserved, but in fact her heart is a wasteland.
"My Exodus Diary" screenwriter Park Hye-young is one of the highest-level screenwriters in Korea. The number of her works is very small, but "Living in Cheongdam-dong", "Oh Hae-young Again", and "My Uncle" are all excellent, and they are also at the level of 8 and 9 points on Douban. Park Huiying's different works have one thing in common - with a strong realistic color, she is particularly good at depicting the living conditions of those who are desperate in their hearts. This time, Lian Meizhen is the epitome of those who have been drained of their souls in the metropolis.
The screenwriter uses delicate brushstrokes to enter Lian Meizhen's inner world and our inner world. Many inner descriptions are amazing. When depressed, for example, we might imagine having a TA. "Just imagine sitting here and working with you, and even this terrible thing can become beautiful. I'm acting, a woman who is loved, a woman who has no flaws, and now I am I love this someone, and I am getting the support of someone..." For many people who are incompetent in love, they may prefer to project their emotions on a distant idol, imagining that they are accompanied by TA in every difficult moment, everything seems to be It's easier to get past.

imagine a lover who doesn't exist

For example, we will be completely hit by exhaustion at a certain moment, and we will not be able to lift ourselves up. "I'm tired. All my relationships seem to be working. Every moment I wake up, I'm working." I was so tired that I didn't want to perfunctory, as if to squeeze out a smile would take all my strength.

Sudden disgust

Another example is the weather with thunderstorms, the roaring thunder and the flash of lightning make people panic, but Lian Meizhen is surprisingly calm, "It feels like the end of the world has finally come, which is exactly what I want. This feeling is like I am trapped. I was stuck, but I didn’t know how to break free, so I just hoped that they would all die together.” Every moment we say "Destroy it", do we also have such inner fluctuations?

A flash of "destruction" thought

"My Exodus Diary" wrote about the essential fatigue of modern people, and more or less revealed the taste of existentialism. Although it is a drama that profoundly presents the living conditions of young Koreans, and also involves issues such as high housing prices in South Korea, stratification, social and livestock difficulties, but "My Exodus Diary" completely jumps out of the framework of "problem drama", it is not A superficial topical drama that disdains to detonate hot spots with stereotyped conflicts; it is sad but not hurt, angry but not complaining, and still water runs deep.
A brilliant mass-culture product should not just present despair, but should also try to find redemption. "My Exodus Diary" doesn't offer the answer to chicken soup for the soul, but honestly, it's still pretty dreamy.
Lian's parents are farming in the countryside, and they also run a sink and closet workshop. They hired Silent Man (played by Sun Xijiu) as a worker. He came here from a big city to rent a house. What is his name, only his surname is known; he is always silent, immersed in the world of soju after work.

Silent Man (played by Son Seok Jiu)

Lian Meizhen was worried that the credit card payment slip sent by the bank would be seen by her parents and could only be sent to Silent Man. The two had a conversation. Lian Meizhen found that Silent Man was her kind. They were all too disappointed with themselves and the world, but Silent Man chose to be immersed in the world of alcohol. She was a little abrupt, but she seemed to ask the silent man for granted: "Adore me. My heart has never been filled... So you admire me, let my heart be filled... Love alone is not enough. , admire me."
Or, let Lian Meizhen admire Silent Man. She said to the silent man: If you need me, I can also admire you.

"Adore me"

What is admiration? In fact, it is respect and recognition, which is to let a person who thinks he is already bad realize the value of his existence. Both Lian Meizhen and Silent Man see their worst side, they don't need to pretend, they don't need to compromise; they admire each other and redeem each other. The atomization of man has become an increasingly serious problem in modern society. More and more people are used to isolation, they don't need each other, they don't connect, they don't help each other. But in essence, people are the sum of social relations. People live in a ubiquitous network of social relations. As long as they are people, they need to communicate, collaborate, and depend on each other, help and support each other. Especially under the epidemic, people-to-people connections and helping each other are so precious.
This is reminiscent of "Life" written by Hiroshi Yoshino: "Life may be a perfection that cannot be achieved by its own power, and life inherently harbors important lacks and is perfected by the existence of others. Like flowers, even if they will be Gathering of stamens and pistils is not enough, still needs the visit of insects and breezes. We are both the scarcity itself and the seeds to be sown, we may be horseflies slowly approaching the blooming flower, or we may be the blowing horseflies breeze."
"My Exodus Diary" tackles the protagonist's predicament lightly: we should still try to connect with others, although it's almost impossible to meet someone as handsome as Son Seok-goo or as beautiful as Kim Ji-won (which is why we say this It doesn’t matter whether it’s online or offline, we can all find our place and confirm our value in connecting with others and society. We must have the courage to ask for help, and we can also help others. We are all lack itself and the seeds that are sown.